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Tristans Twisted Sessions

Author: Damion Brown
Monday, July 15, 2002
Tristan is one of the globl psychedelic scene's leading players, with a string of DJ bookings for 2002 making him one of the most widely-known psychedelic trance jocks on the planet, as well as (possibly) having the most Air Miles. He's been around since day one, has a string of blistering 12"s and a hugely succesful and highly acclaimed album Audiodrome behind him, and has mixed the first Twisted Sessions CD set for imminent release on Twisted records. Damion Brown caught up with Tristan last week to see how things are going...

Okay the first in the Twisted Sessions series is heading our way this summer, and with you behind the decks. What was the goal in this series, and how do you fit into that-

The goal of the series is to present to people Twisted music in a format more similar to that which they will hear at a party... in other words, a cd's worth of non stop music, presented by the artists on the Twisted label. The next volumes are schedhuled to be from Simon Posford (Hallucinogen, Shpongle) and Benji Vaughan (Prometheus, Cyberbabas).

Sounds good. You described the album as "Good full-on party tunes to be played at home" which is an interesting take. Are you stealthily moving away from the trancefloor and towards the living-room floor -

I definitely say no to that one... it's definitely party music ... just also listenable at home - maybe reminding you of those moments on the dancefloor last weekend!!

How would you say the mix progresses from start to finish-

It starts funky and groovy and steadily builds up in intensity to a crescendo at the end.

Notable again, as on a lot of Twisted releases, there's a lot of collaborations on here, most interesting one being with Dick Trevor of Green Nuns... have you and he worked together previously- What was it like working on this tune- Will it get its own vinyl release- And any more planned stuff to come from you two-

All the artists are good mates at the label, so working with each other is not only fun, but results in a continuity of sound and style, whilst broadening that of each of the people involved. Working with Dick is always a pleasure. He has a great sound and is meticulous in his production techniques. We will definitely release 'audio evangelists' on vinyl as we have already written a few other bits... Watch this space!

Other than laying down this mix then, what have you been up to lately-

I've just finished my second solo album- "Substance which is due for release in October. It's been labour-intensive and cabin fever has set in so I'm looking forward to the summer season of festivals; in particular Mount Fuji in Japan and Samothraki in Greece.

I caught you playing once back at the Fridge in 1997, at Sid's Science Fiction night. How do you think the scene's changed since then- Is it more diverse-

Yeah, the scene is definitely more diverse... but it is also much much bigger on a global scale. Trance has had some introvert and tricky phases, but I'm glad I've persevered with it because it is now more kicking and fun that it ever has been.

Some people moan that the 'spiritual' edge has gone from the music. Certainly nobody blesses the dancefloor with crystals before a party (recent London nights, it's more likely to be urine), any thoughts on that side of it- (spiritual not urine)

I disagree... a consequence of a larger and more diverse scene is a dilution of some of the original core elements. As regards 'spirituality' : that's a word bandied around with far too much ease on the trance scene. Perhaps if there is less 'spiritual correctness' and more honest subjective and collective connections on the dance floor, fewer people from the dance music scene at large would be less scathing of the psychedelic scene.

What about psy and the mainstream... there's a lot more of it about compared with the early days, look at Joh
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